Pokémon, Orange Version!
by PureWaterLily
Summary: I want to be the very best, like no one ever was... dattebayo!


A/N: As soon I heard Red's voice in Origins, I just had to do it. This one's dedicated to the first generation, back when there were only 151 Pokemon, Pikachu was chubby little puffball, and Misty was strangling Ash every other second.

* * *

**A Farfetch'd Story**

In western region of Kanto lies a quiet reclusive place by the name of Pallet Town, home of many epic Pokemon trainers, the most famous being Red, youngest league champion, master of all regions, holder of the legendary birds, and controller of Mewtwo. Proven equally as successful and devastating were his peer trainees, Green and Blue.

Oh, and there's another bumbling kid running around with a Pikachu, who after a decade of journeys, lands, theme songs, laughter and tears, still hasn't broken double digits in his pokemon collection. For all the 90's kids curious, yes, he's still ten fucking years old.

But this story will not revolve around any of them.

Instead, this story will be about the number one hyperactive pokemon trainer hero slash ninja of all time, Uzumaki (Orange) Naruto!

Who happened to have overslept his alarm on the most important day of his life.

"Shit, shit, shit!" After hopping into his second sock, Naruto grabbed his backpack and darted downstairs.

When the glass door to the research lab opened, he saw there were already two figures before Professor Sarutobi.

Sakura grinned at the newcomer, tossing a pokeball in hand. "A little late there, eh?"

On the other side, Sasuke had pocketed his own pokeball, before closing his eyes and making his exit. Naruto scowled when their shoulders bumped. The door slid close.

"Hey, old man!" he called to the professor, "I'm here, like you asked!"

Sarutobi set down his pipe. "Ah yes."

After the professor gave an unnecessarily lengthy monologue on gameplay specifics and quest objective, all of which Naruto slept through, he led Naruto to a table with three labels.

"It has been Kanto tradition to grant budding trainers with a starter representative of their inner nature," Sarutobi explained. "The first is fire, for those passionate in will and heart. The second is water, for those light with curiosity and fun. The final is grass, for those wise with peace and harmony."

Naruto squinted his eyes, and nodded in understanding. "I see, I see," he said. He crossed his arms. "Well, _obviously_ a hero protagonist has to have the will of FIRE. Give me that Charmander, old man!"

"Sasuke-kun took the Charmander," Sakura said.

Naruto fell.

He bounced back, rubbing his neck. "Just kidding! We're going with the Shippuuden hurricane theme. I choose Squirtle!"

"I took the Squirtle," Sakura said.

Naruto fell again.

"I meant Leaf. Shout-out to Konoha. World peace, talk-no-jutsu, here we go!"

"First off, it's grass, not leaf. Second, the Player Character took the Bulbasaur."

From the shadows, the Player Character stepped up, Nintendo in hand. The Player confronted Naruto with a multitude of A buttons and ellipses, which translated into something along the lines of "I _paid_ for this game, bitch," then exited with a vacuumed _bzzt_ sound.

Naruto pulled his hair. "What the hell! Don't tell me I can't be a trainer!" he cried.

Sarutobi coughed. "It is indeed a misfortune that we cannot provide our usual selection of ridiculously rare and overpowered starters, but luckily we did just come back with another extremely rare, one-of-a-kind pokemon..."

To Naruto's hopping glee, in the professor's palm was one last pokeball.

As Naruto threw the ball with all his might, Sakura's eyes widened. "It couldn't possibly be a..."

_Fwaaah_!

Naruto blinked. Sakura fought back a snort.

Wings flapped, waving a leek in the air. _Fwaaah_!

"You gave me a _DUCK_?!"

.

[I'd totally insert a "Who's that Pokemon?!" scene break if that was, you know, possible. Guess you'll just have to settle for random trivia.]

_Fun Fact: Did you know Sarutobi was canonically known as "The Professor" in the Naruto series due to his extensive knowledge of shinobi techniques?_

_._

**Route 1**

A grumpy Naruto trekked through the wilderness, while Farfetch'd hopped obediently behind, tail feathers wagging.

Pouting, he glanced over at his pokemon and finally stopped. He crouched down, staring intensely into the pokemon's eyes.

"Now listen here." He jerked a finger to himself. "I am Uzumaki Naruto! I will be the greatest pokemon master slash ninja of all time!" He pointed at his pokemon. "And you, you will become the greatest pokemon of all time, you hear? We'll fight, we'll battle, we'll win and claim victory and reign supreme, and _everyone_ will acknowledge us!"

His pokemon returned his intense stare. Then it blinked.

_Fwaaah._

Naruto hung his head. No matter how he looked, it was duck.

Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes. Spinning around, he caught a flicker of shadow, followed by the contraction of a tail. Heart racing, Naruto readied his stance as a blur of purple hopped out.

From his pocket, Naruto flipped out his Pokedex. _Rattata, the mouse pokemon. It comes out into open fields to steal food from stupid travelers._

"Alright, time for our first capture!" Naruto cried, pumped. He extended a fist. "Let's go, Ducky!"

The wind blew across the grass.

"Ducky?" Naruto whipped his head back and forth, but Farfetch'd was gone, leaving him alone with the hissing purple rodent. Rattata pounced, teeth sharp.  
"Oh shi-"

After a day of repeated attacks from swarms of Rattata, a severely bruised and traumatized Naruto crawled into a clearing and collapsed. He shook awake next morning by a noisy _Fwaaah?_

"Gah!"

Naruto jerked up, retreating from his peering duck. Then he remembered last night, furiously shaking his head in denial when his backpack returned nothing but a nibbled hole at the bottom. He searched around and found his Pokedex in the grass, dented but still functional.

For the rest of the morning, he hunched over, dragging his feet while cradling his growling stomach. He fidgeted with the Pokedex for anything insightful. He flipped to the page about his own pokemon.

_Farfetch'd, the wild duck pokemon. Farfetch'd makes a delicious meal, especially when cooked with leek._

Now there was an idea.

At Naruto's hungry leer, Farfetch'd flapped its wings back. _Fwaaah!_

However, before Naruto could turn his battle companion into his dinner, he heard a familiar voice.

Naruto pulled aside a branch just in time to hear an the echoing lock of a capture. Pokeball in hand, Sasuke spared a glance at his awed peer.

Suddenly, a growl sent Naruto a step back. Charmander leaped forward, eyes narrowed.

"He's fine."

Charmander looked up at its trainer, before calming and hopping up onto Sasuke's shoulder, flaming tail in air.

"What do you want, Naruto."

"Sasuke-!" Naruto stopped and recomposed himself, thumb at his chin. "Kukuku, I see my rival ain't doing too bad either," he said with a sparkle. "Too bad you're nothing compared to me and _my_ super rare, one-of-a-kind pokemon."

Sasuke did not blink. "Is that it." He pointed to the duck perched on top of Naruto's head, chest boasted, with equal sparkles.

"You bet, dattebayo!" _Fwaaah!_ "And you got nothing on us, you hear?" _Fwaaah! _"In fact, you and me, let's battle, right now!" _Fwa-! Fwaaah?_

Charmander reacted with a hiss, flipping back down into the grass.

"Go Ducky-! Eh?"

Naruto looked down to see a feather tail wagging behind his leg. Farfetch'd peeked back out, then retreated upon Charmander's glare. Frowning, Naruto yanked free his flailing duck and threw it forward. "Ducky, I choose you!"

In a crouch, Charmander spun, blasting fire from its tail.

_Fwaaah_! Farfetch'd flapped its wings, dodging the flames before skydiving towards Naruto and wrapping tightly around his face. In absolute deadpan, Sasuke watched Naruto hop about the field in muffled shouts.

"You're a waste of my time." Sasuke slung over his backpack and left. Charmander followed, a flaming tail disappearing into the depth of the woods.

Naruto pried off his quivering duck, and spat out a mouthful of feathers.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" he shouted. He was ready yell some more when he caught his pokemon's pitiful quiver and teary eyes. His shoulders dropped.

"Forget it," he sighed. "Why don't you just return to your pokeball, and I'll-" Naruto patted everywhere for his pokeball, only to find the loose threads of a nibbled belt clip.

"RATTATAAAAA!"

.

_Fun fact: Did you know before the anime adaptation, Pokemon did not cry their names, but an electronically made noise?_

.

**Viridian City**

"You did it, Bubbles!" Sakura jumped, hugging her pokemon. Squirtle gave a cheerful cry, tail wagging as Sakura left the gym with a newly acquired Earth badge.

They were just about to head off for a celebration feast when Sakura tripped and face planted into the pavement. Groaning, she looked back to see a mass of orange sprawled on the road. She pinched her nose. "Of course."

At the Pokemon Center, Naruto clapped his hands in gratitude as Sakura slid him a plate of donuts disguised as onigiri. "Haha, you're the best, Sakura-chan."

Frowning, she watched as Naruto and Farfetch'd both gorge themselves with food. "Naruto, get yourself together. I've already missed meeting up with Sasuke-kun for this. He's probably in Viridian Forest by now."

"Forget Sasuke! We can go together!" Naruto declared with a cheesy grin, imagining himself vine-swinging in and heroically saving Sakura from a swarm of Beedrill, from which they then ride off into the sunset on the sweeping wings of his Farfetch'd.

Sakura popped his daydream with a smack of her fist. "_Hell_ no."

From her side of the table she got up and dropped on his lap a stack of Pokedollars, a collection of bottles, and a tray of pokeball. She then proceeded to slap a sloppily sown backpack on his face. "Here's some money, some Antidote and Potions, six unused pokeballs, and your backpack with a map and trainer's manual inside. Also, I suggest you hit the Gym to train up your laughably pathetic duck. Don't bother me again. _Bye_."

With that, Sakura signed her peace out.

The backpack slowly slid off Naruto's face. He gave a goofy grin. "She loves me."

Farfetch'd raised an nonexistent eyebrow. _Fwaaah?_

"Training time!"

Full and energized, Naruto tucked his duck under his arm and set off for the Pokemon Gym. After ten wrong turns, eight detours, and a drunk old man lying on the road, he stood gasping before his destination, a large gymnasium with many trainers dueling.

Naruto looked around and caught a rack of training equipment. He took a weight and handed it to his Farfetch'd. "Why don't we try this?"

_FWAaah!_ Farfetch'd toppled down, the dumbbell falling down.

Pouting, Naruto went to a punching bag instead. He dropped a roundhouse kick. Grinning, he jerked a thumb to the punching bag and asked his pokemon to repeat after him. "You can do it, it's easy!"

Determined, Farfetch'd ruffled its feathers and charged in for a kick.

_Fwaa-_!

One webbed feet made contact with the punching bag. Naruto winced at the painful sounding crack, then buried into his face when his pokemon cried, rolling back and forth on the mat.

"Okay, defense first then!" Naruto said.

Half an hour later, Farfetch'd was covered head to toe in puffy pillows and guards. Naruto finished by buckling its helmet. He gave a firm tug and proudly examined his work.

"There. You won't get hurt now, so feel free to go all out!"

Farfetch'd gave an excited hop and flapped its wings, only to find itself toppling over and rocking on its back, feet kicking the air.

Naruto grinned. "See? It works!" He helped his pokemon up. "Not a single feather dent."

Farfetch'd gave a cheerful cry and waddled after its trainer towards a sparring room. However, the first room was occupied.

"Spearow, peck!"

"Abra, teleport."

Naruto watched in awe as Abra flickered out of range of Spearow, then again on the second spin. From one side of the battle ground, Omoi held his chin, eyes concentrated on the field in quiet contemplation. On the other side, Karui slashed her hand through the air and shouted, "Fury attack!"

Spearow sharply dove down in attack. Omoi kept poker face until the last minute. "Teleport."

"Gah!" Naruto jumped out of the way, as Spearow flew past him and slammed into the wall.

Cursing, Karui called Spearow back. She noticed the newcomer. "You. What are you doing here?"

Naruto looked around the room before pointing to himself to confirm she was speaking to him. "Oh, we were just looking for a sparring room to train."

"We?" Only after thorough scrutiny did she find the bundle of pillows and tail feathers bouncing at his feet. She fought the quiver in her lip, before exploding in laughter. "Oh you're kidding," she cried, holding her gut.

Naruto pouted. Meanwhile, Omoi took out his usual lollipop out of his mouth and gestured down the hall. "There are more rooms down that way, but fair warning, they're reserved for battle."

Naruto exchanged an uneasy with Farfetch'd. "Uh, how about a space for general practice?"

"Yeah, the Day Care center," Karui snickered.

Naruto exploded. "Look, this here will be the greatest pokemon ever, so you better start talking to us with some respect!"

"Respect?"

Naruto turned around to see Samui leaning against the room entrance, her eyelids lowered. "Respect," she said, "is not something you demand. It's something you earn." With a click, she expanded a pokeball in her palm. "So is the privilege of this gym."

On cue, a Staryu spun out of the pokeball like shuriken.

"Prove to me you're worth our space," she said coldly.

Naruto swallowed.

Five minutes and one water gun later, Naruto finds himself blasted out into the concrete road, a dizzy Farfetch'd slammed against his chest. From inside, Samui only sends an unamused look before the glass doors close shut.

_._

_Fun Fact: Did you know that 4Kids tried to censor out onigiri, or Japanese rice balls, replaced them with giant sandwiches to be more Westernized for the child audience? The original dub also had Brock refer to them as jelly donuts, cookies, popcorn, and onions._

.

**Viridian Forest**

Farfetch'd settled on top the backpack of its trainer as they traversed through the dense forest of Viridian. Ever since they lost track of the road, the terrain had only gotten more difficult, with tall ferns and other suffocating wildlife.

Since they did not think of bringing a knife, Naruto slashed through most of it with his bare hands. Farfetch'd uneasily looked at the angry red scratches across Naruto's arms and shrunk inwards.

At a boulder, Naruto collapsed for a food break. He bit into a cracker, then ripped open a fresh can of fish. With a grin, he presented it to Farfetch'd, who graciously accepted.

"Huh, think ths de right direksion," Naruto mumbled into his cracker, tilting his head at the map. Farfetch'd looked up at its trainer, uncertain.

Although they had made no progress in Viridian city, an unfazed Naruto had decided to march forward regardless. At nights, Farfetch'd huddled inside his armor of pillows, listening to Naruto chat over the campfire. He mostly talked about his friends, and his plans to catch up to them.

Farfetch'd accepted that its trainer had a lot of guts, but if they couldn't handle several Rattata, they sure were not fit to handle the challenges of Viridian Forest. At least, not without a strong accompanying pokemon.

"Aaahh!"

_Fwaaah! _Farfetch'd jumped behind Naruto, who scanned the periphery for the source of the scream. It sounded like a girl's.

"Sakura-chan?!" Naruto bolted in the direction of the scream. He arrived at the scene of the crime, where a swarm of angry Weedles wiggled forth. From the center, a pokemon hopped down and shot forth a stream of bubbles. The Weedle burst through.

Naruto charged in, using his backpack as shield and Weedle-whacker. He reached the girl and her pokemon. "Hehe, you okay, Saku- Eh? You're not Sakura-chan."

"Na-Na-Naruto-kun?" Hinata stared at her rescuer, her face flushing an incriminating color of red, before she fainted.

Naruto shook her. "Oi, Hinata? Hinata!"

At the same time, the swarm of angry Weedle had returned. Surrounded, Naruto kicked away a few assaulting Weedle, before a sudden drop of glaring Kakuna dropped in front of his face. Surprised, he fell down. A few Weedle stung his arm, and many more charged.

Naruto braced himself, only to hear a sudden dive.

_Fwaaah!_

Swinging its leek, Farfetch'd batted a Kakuna into the field of Weedle, then spun its leek and sent more Weedle flying in the air. The remaining Weedle, alarmed by the sudden appearance of flapping bird, scattered and wiggled off.

Farfetch'd stood stiffly until all the Weedle were gone, then collapsed in a puddle of tremors.

"You..." Naruto had to blink twice. "You DID IT! YEAH! GO DUCKY!"

Farfetch'd bounced happily, as Naruto continued to cheer. "WHOOO, Sasuke ain't nothing on us, you hear? Nothing! Yeah! Level up! WHOO-!" Foam bubbled at the edge of Naruto's mouth. Two seconds, he collapsed face-first into the dirt.

When Hinata came around, she found the Weedle were gone. On her tongue were words of gratitude, until he saw a corpse in orange jumpsuit on the grass.

She proceeded to scream.

A duck tugged her sleeve. Farfetch'd directed Hinata to a lopsided backpack, where a stock of antidotes could be found. She saw the sting marks on Naruto's arms.

Hinata had backed up in the corner not because Weedle were particularly strong. They were just poisonous, and she did not want anyone hurt, including the Weedle themselves. It took a lot of effort to not facepalm.

By late evening, Naruto groaned, accidentally head-bumping his situational nurse on his rise up.

"Y-you're okay!" Hinata exclaimed, rubbing her forehead.

Naruto grinned, then noticed the round, blue critter in her arms.

"Ah, this is Ro-chan." She exchanged a smile with her Poliwag. "He's s-supposed to accompany me to Neji-nii-san in Saffron city, but he's not much of a fighter-type, and I think the f-forest became a little too much for us to handle..." She looked at Naruto expectantly.

Farfetch'd followed her gaze, awaiting a sappy declaration of "Don't worry, I'll protect you!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Oh, it's okay, we're way out of our leagues too. On top of that, we're totally lost! Ahaha!"

Just as Hinata hung her head, Naruto added, "But it's great we met! Let's go to Saffron together!"

She looked up, her eyes brightening considerably.

"I'd like that, t-thank you," she said mildly.

Several kilometers north, a path of unconscious Beedrill lied in the grass.

"Nidoran, return."

Sakura lowered her eyelids and looked over her shoulder once more, before proceeding onto the gates of Pewter city.

_._

_Fun Fact: Did you know that a Poliwag's belly is translucent, and the swirl pattern you see is actually its internal organs?_

.

**Pewter City**

"Go Ducky!"

Hinata watched in awe as Farfetch'd slashed with its leek and cleared them the remaining path. Ever since Farfetch'd mimicked the cut technique from Naruto, their journey through the forest had progressed smoother. Aerial views also helped them guide their way, and after two weeks, they finally made it to the gate of Pewter city.

"Great job, Ducky!" Naruto cheered, and Farfetch'd gave a happy cry, helmet falling lopsided on its head.

They rested at the local Pokemon Center. It was during their exchange of onigiri-shaped donuts that Naruto heard startling news.

He slammed his hands on the table. "Gaara is the _what_?"

Hinata shrunk behind the Pewter brochure. "G-gym leader? He's the gym leader of Pewter."

"No way." Naruto fell back down in his seat in disbelief. "He's a gym leader."

The news slowly sank in, before Naruto squinted his eyes. "What's a gym leader, again?"

Since Hinata was too polite to facepalm, Poliwag slapped its tail to its face in her stead.

The next day, the couple visited Gaara at the Pewter gym.

"Naruto-kun, you've finally arrived." Gaara gave a small nod of acknowledgment, then glanced at the shrinking violet girl by his side. He turned his gaze upfront. "Are you here to challenge me?"

Before Hinata can interject, Naruto already held out a fist. "You _bet _we are!"

Ten seconds later, there was a myriad of slashed pillow feathers in the air. _Fwaaah!_

Poliwag jumped in front of Farfetch'd and blew out a defensive stream of bubbles.

Alarmed, Sandshrew rolled back and unraveled. It looked up to its master in confusion, as Hinata ran into the arena and scooped both pokemon into her arms.

"Hinata! What are you-!"

"Silence."

Naruto snapped his mouth shut, and turned to see Gaara returning his Sandshrew. "This match is over. Naruto-kun, it is clear you have no idea how to battle alongside your pokemon." He looked away from the trembling Farfetch'd, and crossed his arms. "The cost of your arrogance is the welfare of your allies. Leave."

Hinata was ready to follow Naruto out when Gaara spoke up again. She turned around to see a grey colored badge presented to her.

"W-what is...?"

"For your judgment and priorities."

Unfortunately for Hinata, she had no desire for a gym badge. It was salt to the wound, as Naruto hugged his Farfetch'd and moped for the rest of the day. Naruto could handle being called lame, or stupid, or inadequate. But being called out as a _jerkass_? He looked at the beaten pokemon in his arms before his lips quivered. "Ducky, I'm so sorry!"

Hinata tried her best to help. She stuttered out words of encouragement. She sewed up and refitted Farfetch'd pillow armor. She even got two tickets to the Science Museum to get his mind off his battle loss.

Finally, she just stared hopelessly, and said, "Y-you know, it's not your fault, nor Ducky's. D-Ducky just may not be a b-battle-type pokemon, so instead of trying to change its nature, maybe you can just c-capture and train another pokemon for battle specifically?"

A stone-faced Naruto lifted his gaze up. "And how do you capture a battle type pokemon without a battle type pokemon, again?"

Hinata stammered, until a sketchy looking man approached their table.

"Hey, hey, couldn't help but overhearing you're in the need of a strong pokemon for battle?"

Hinata shrunk back while Naruto leaned forward. "Yeah, what about it, old man?"

"Oh boy, do _I _have the deal for _you_!"

.

_Fun Fact: Did you know all the eight major cities in Kanto are all named after colors? Nibi City has been translated into silver, tin, marble, grey, or in the English version, pewter._

.

**Mt. Moon**

Charmander sniffed the cave floor, while Sasuke eyed perimeter.

Suddenly, Charmander growled into the darkness.

"Kukuku, you never struck me as the curious type, Sasuke-kun." There was a sharp glint of glasses. "To think you would chase me all the way here... shouldn't you be having fun competing against your friends instead? I think I heard little Sakura-chan pass by several days ago. If you don't hurry, she'll get ahead of you."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Come out, Kabuto. I know you stole it."

From the shadows, Kabuto smirked. Slowly, a pokemon slithered past his feet.

Before Charmander can react, an Ekans had wrapped around the pokemon and bit down.

"Ember!"

Ekans quickly retracted at the burn, but by the time the battle was over, Kabuto had long disappeared.

_._

_Fun Fact: Did you know that Mt. Moon is so high that it is visible from Pallet Town, but has been getting smaller due to rock slides?_

_._

**Cerulean City**

"Absorb!" Oddish opened its leaves, and spores attached to the opponent pokemon. Smirking, Sakura widened her pokeball. "Return! Come out, Nidoran!"

With a double kick, Nidoran sent the sleeping Cloyster into the opposing wall. Slowly, the shell cracked open. Yagura closed his eyes and acknowledged defeat.

Nidoran jumped into her arms and Squirtle leapt on her back in celebration.

Sakura left the gym with three badges in her case. Five more, she thought, before Indigo plateau and Elite Four! Just as she was wondering how far Sasuke had gotten, he appeared before her.

"Sasuke-kun!" she said, startled.

Sasuke glanced at her, hands tucked in his pocket. "Sakura. How are you?"

Squirtle watched as its trainer's demeanor change an one-eighty. Sakura fidgeted and squirmed. "I'm great! It's such a coincidence to see you here! Hey, if you're staying in Cerulean, I was wondering if you, like, maybe want to go see-"

"Are you going inside?"

Sakura paused, and glanced at the gym behind her. She furtively slipped her badge case deeper in her bag and smiled. "Yeah, do you want to go inside together, Sasuke-kun?"

"I'd rather battle you."

"Right _now_?"

At Sasuke's cold silence, Sakura gave in.

"Nidoran!"

"Pidgeotto."

Sakura watched a magnificent bird soared into the sky.

"Gust."

Sakura gave a nod, and Nidoran dug against the ground in the upcoming tornado. She observed the Pidgeotto circle above. At Sasuke's command, it dove. Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Now!"

Nidoran's ears twitched before spinning. Pidgeotto halted at the sudden face of spikes, only to be rammed into the ground with a horn attack. Sasuke's eyes widened when he realized his pokemon had been stung with poison. With a flick of his wrist, he returned Pidgeotto.

In its place was Ekans. When it became apparent Sasuke intended to battle poison with poison, Sakura switched strategies. "Focus Energy!"

"Bite!"

Ekans bit into Nidoran, causing both ears to twitch. However, it refused to move. Squirtle watched eagerly as the seconds ticked.

Sasuke eyed warily, and was ready to call his second attack when Sakura shouted, "Fury attack!"

Sakura's moment of triumphant washed away when she caught the controlled anger in Sasuke's eyes as he returned his second pokemon. "Um, Sasuke-kun, maybe we should-"

Before she could finish, Charmander flipped off his shoulder and entered battle. Its fire burned with rage. From Sasuke's expression, she could tell playtime was over. She returned Nidoran.

Meanwhile, Squirtle's tail waggled in excitement, awaiting to be summoned next. It made a loud ruckus when she summoned Oddish instead. With a sheepish smile, Sakura pointed forward. "Absorb?"

With a whip of its tail, Charmander sent Oddish crashing into the pavement.

Sakura returned Oddish. She gave a nervous laugh. "Guess you're too strong, Sasuke-kun. Why don't we-"

"We're not done," Sasuke said lowly, staring at the Squirtle rested on her shoulder. Squirtle readied to charge in, but Sakura held her hands up in surrender.

"Bubbles isn't really for battle," she laughed, much to Squirtle's outrage.

When Sasuke would not relent, Sakura bit her lips. "Fine," she whispered.

Squirtle did not need another word. Charmander charged. Tail met tail. Squirtle grinned, then tucked into its shell at the upcoming scratch attack. Charmander dropped down to avoid the spinning shell, and blew out a burst of flames. Squirtle was just about ready to counter with a blast of water when it heard a different command.

"Use Bubble!"

Sasuke watched as a shell slammed into the ground, steaming. Squirtle popped out its shell, coughing ashes.

Satisfied, Sasuke left.

Sakura rushed to attend her injured pokemon. "Bubbles, are you-" Sakura's forehead met a full skull-bash. Squirtle squirmed in her grip, giving indignant cries.

"If we've done that, we would've killed them," Sakura hissed. "Sasuke-kun will hate me forever."

Squirtle puffed a cheek.

"Please forgive me? I'll buy your favorite onigiri donut."

Her offer was returned by a mouth blast of water gun.

Soaked, Sakura wiped her face in deadpan, but then smiled when Squirtle wrapped around her in a hug.

_._

_Fun Fact: Did you know that before Pikachu, Ash dreamed of having Squirtle as his starter?_

_._

**Area Unknown**

"Gyaaah!"

Hinata ran, shielding her head at the swarm of fluttering Venomoth. She followed Naruto to behind a boulder, trying to steady her breathing. That was when said boulder moved and sneered, extending out all four arms.

With a soft scream, Hinata fainted onto the cave floor.

"Oi, Hinata. Hinata!"

No matter how hard Naruto shook, Hinata was unconscious. _Fwaaah!_

Farfetch'd grew wide eyed at the silhouette staring in the corner.

_Tic._

"Ducky, what is it?"

_Tic._

"Hey, you! Show yourself!"

_Tic._

Farfetch'd stared hypnotically, as the silhouette stared back.

_Tic._

Before Naruto knew it, his mind started blurring, and the pokemon in his arms was asleep. Somewhere echoing was a pair of footsteps that sent all the wild pokemon in retreat. A cloaked figure leaned down, and swiped his hand over Naruto's eyes.

Naruto had a name on the tip of his tongue, but his eyes had fallen shut and his world had turned black.

* * *

**A/N: Part I, saved! Is this the end for Naruto? What about Hinata? What did Kabuto steal? Who are the Elite Four? Can the nicknames get any lamer? Find out next time on Pokemon, ORANGE version!**


End file.
